Leylines. Next Meeting: Tuesday 2 November Weston Ck Labor Club From 7.30PM. Canberra and Districts Leyland P76 Club Newsletter October/November 2010

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1 Leylines Canberra and Districts Leyland P76 Club Newsletter October/November 2010 Next Meeting: Tuesday 2 November Weston Ck Labor Club From 7.30PM Photo: BMC Heritage Lunch, courtesy Damien Haas

2 Editor's Note Thanks to Damo s dissertation on the BMC Leyland Heritage Lunch there is enough material to make it worthwhile to produce Leylines this month. A reminder that Marques in the Park is on at John Knight Park on Sunday 21 November. Unfortunately, I won t be able to make it to the next meeting. So if I don t see you at Marques, I ll catch up in December for our Christmas dinner... at Mings... Col 2

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4 Damien Haas I was really looking forward to this day; I went to my first B.M.C. Leyland Australia Heritage Day Lunch last year and found it fascinating. I can t imagine many other car clubs in the world where you have the opportunity to stand around gazing under the bonnets of cars, and talking to the guys that spannered them together and helped design them. As a Leyland P76 fancier, you sometimes forget that other cars begat the P76, and that other cars followed it. That it was the Australian born child of a large British company with many strange ancestor companies and cars in the family tree! Arriving at the Ryde Eastwood Leagues Club, the same venue as last year, I was a bit late due to a smash on the roads holding traffic up, and general Sydney road congestion. I mean, it was a Sunday, you would expect traffic jams on a Sunday. Much better to drive through Sydney on a weekday when the traffic flows smoothly. Being late meant I only had 15 minutes or so to wander around the various BMC Leyland products on the top floor of the leagues club multi-level carpark. As I arrived, I saw the garish Mini Experience Mini panel van and trailer. 4

5 There were British cars everywhere. There were also quite a few people I recognised, not just from the P76 movement, but also former employees that I chatted to the year before. Some were wearing their white Leyland Experimental coats! I saw a Nomad and wandered over to snap some photos. I have always wanted a Nomad, a great Australian design variation dreamed up at Zetland to make the British design more practical. Most of the cars dated from the period that the Heritage Group members worked there, which makes sense. It was a nice collection of British designed, Australian built cars on display, most owned by former employees. Morris, Austins, Wolseleys, Leylands, Marinas, Farinas, Oxfords, Freeways, Mini s and of course the P76. 5

6 The most modern car on display was a 2001 Rover 75, the last of the British built Rovers. The company is now owned by the Chinese, with the Land Rover arm owned by the Indians. I saw that the P76 s were parked in a row and wandered over to chat to various folks. I saw Jason Motor Gnome Birmingham, flying solo this year as his son has discovered girls. Jason bought his Pink taxi. Norm Julian and Steve Maher were also there, as was Tony de Luca, Warwick Williams, Noel Delforce and Martyn Stockwell in their P76 s. Adrian Spencer made it down from Queensland; I was the only Canberra member to make the trip. Steve Maher s car had just been prepared to take part in an upcoming rally, and looked very smart. Marty is selling his 2M44 which has been tastefully modified for road racing, as he says a retired pensioner doesn t need five registered cars. The car is well presented. 6

7 After looking at cars, we all wandered down to the Leagues Club where a large room had been booked for the Lunch and talks. Roger Foy gave a short and interesting talk about the cars that were up on the roof, and some reminiscing about his time at Zetland, and then introduced other speakers. We sat and ate while listening to the speakers. In between speakers, we got up and fetched our meal courses. It ran smoothly. The main talk was by Craig Watson, Publisher, editor, writer and photographer for Mini Experience magazine. Even though it was all about Minis, and his lifelong adventures with them (and Mokes), it was interesting. I don t buy Mini Experience very often, as is focus is on well, Minis, but it does feature non-minis from time to time, so is well worth flicking through in the newsagency. The magazine did an excellent multi-part series on Leyland in Australia with a very heavy focus on the P76 last year, which I would like to see turned into a book one day. I had a great chat to Adrian Spencer. The P76 movement in Queensland seems very strong. Adrian needs to develop a hat with a built in camera as he sat holding his camera taping the speakers for the entire event - while trying to eat! He also needs to beware of a hungry Motor Gnome, one of the funniest thing I have ever seen was Jason 7

8 licking his plate clean, looking around at half full plates, then saying Look a unicorn and pointing. When Adrian Spencer went Where and looked around, Jason swiped a chicken drumstick off his plate! At my table discussion turned to ideas for the 40 th Anniversary in Canberra. We also talked about cars under restoration, including the Mark Cassarchis car. Interestingly Norm Julian told me that the Cassarchis car is a little different to other P76 s with small changes, such as the rear diecast indicator surrounds not having the side slots punched out. I plan on doing an article on that car, so this intrigued me. The Motor Gnome was pretty focussed on scamming extra desserts. After the main talk and dessert the raffles began. I won a lovely picture of a post-war Harley Davidson. Wandering the tables and chatting to people was fun, as was looking at the various scrapbooks of photos etc being passed around. There was not as much memorabilia on display this year, and not many items to purchase although there were Mini Experience publications on sale. Merchandise from the P76 Nationals was also on sale, including the resin P76 model kit produced by the NSW P76 Club. This is definitely THE venue to target if you want to produce Leyland related merchandise. The day was very well organised with a nice display of cars representing BMC/Leyland heritage, a nice lunch with interesting table decorations (keyrings with different BMC/Leyland cars on them I scored a Moke keyring) and the talks were very fascinating. For a person with an interest in Australia s automotive history, this event is a must. For a Leyland fan it was most enjoyable, and it was a great opportunity to catch up with friends from the P76 movement that we see all too infrequently. Contact the Canberra and Districts Leyland P76 Club Mailing address: PO Box 6306 Kingston ACT 2604 Online address: Yahoo group: Club Office Holders: President Alex Shoobridge Ph Vice Pres & Registrar Geoff Thomas Ph Treasurer Bryce French Ph Secretary Paul Hanley Ph Public Officer Damien Haas Ph Spares Damien Haas Ph

9 Editor Col Gardner Ph